and lane closures. coming up on 4:30 let's go back to jana. bay area transit officials want to tax people based on how much they drive. allie rasmus is live in fremont with what it could mean for drivers. >> reporter: this week bay area transportation leaders will consider whether to study the idea of a vehicle miles travel tax. it's a tax for every mile you drive. whether you are driving on freeways or whether you are driving on city streets like this intersection at auto mall parkway. the idea behind it if you tax people up to ten cents per mile they will drive less. estimates are it would raise about $15 million a day for road repairs and construction. how would it work? drivers would have a fast track type device that would keep tabs of the numbers of miles

recorded. the metropolitan transportation association will meet tomorrow to decide whether to study this idea further. it is still in its very early stages and the legislature would probably have to approve something like this before it's finalized. it has been tried in other parts of the world with some success. cities in sweden and amsterdam and singapore have some variation of this vehicle miles travel tax. allie rasmus ktvu channel 2 news. we are following overnight news from the hills of santa clara county. it was a close call for one lucky car owner after a big oak tree came crashing down. this is video of the scene on month that go road. you can see the huge branches surrounding a car parked on the street. incredibly the car was not even scratched. meantime, work crews will now spend the next several hours cutting up and removing that

tree. >> it appears it has some depth. trees fallen across the roadway and have to get rid of it. it's a triple trunk tree split in three. >> it came down on one of several roadways. but crews expect to have the scene cleared before tonights concert. ethics probe of suspended sheriff ross mirkarimi. mirkarimi's wife is back in the states. she is scheduled to testify in person before the ethics commission at city hall. she has been meeting with her attorney and getting ready for the hearing which could determine her husband's political future. >> the commission is going to see that she is not afriday of ross. she loves ross. she feels somewhat invaded by this entire process. she is committed to her family.

committed to ross, committed to her son. >> lopez is expected to describe the home video that led to this domestic violence investigation. it shows her in tears pointing to a bruise on her arm she said she suffered during a new years day argument with her husband. since then she has strongly supported her husband in his fight to get his job back. the radio system used by oakland police is still experiencing glitches. a new report commissioned by the city finds that the new system is also plagued with poor reception and not meeting standards when officers are inside buildings. the new system cost $18 million which was funded mostly by grants. female bicyclist is in the hospital with serious injuries after she was hit by an ac transit bus. the accident happened a the the intersection of 45th and san

pablo streets. police collected the bicycle with evidence from the scene. it was making a left hand turn. the bikist was coming from the opposite direction. the driver didn't see her because he was sitting between a curb and stopped bus. a woman accused of causing a fatal road rage crash has been charged. what we have learned about the man that was killed in that crash. tomorrow is the deadline for people in the san jose homeless -- ordering people to move out of telepark as they clean up the coyote creek area. earlier this week fliers were posted saying people who do not leave will face criminal prosecution. at least a dozen people are staying in the encampment. police plan to be there tomorrow to make sure everyone moves out. protestors dressed like zombies plan to take over this mornings uc regents meeting. they are expected to vote on freezing under graduate tuition. they will consider increasing

tuition by 20% in january if voters do not approve the temporary tax hike. today protestors will call on mark youdoff to avoid increases. cal state students and others are criticizing csu trustees that approved pay raises for three new coming presidents. they will each earn 9-10% more than their press sees sos. they say the hikes are necessary to attract top talent but it comes as students face is twist hikes and fewer classes. >> we are having trouble getting the things we need. >> csu is bracing for another round of painful cuts if the governors tax plan is fairs. reducing enrollment, and increasing fees for

nonresidence. today the white house is announcing a new program to create master teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math. under the plan teachers selected will receive a stiff fend of $20,000 a year. the white house says the goal is to keep good teachers in the classroom and make american students more competitive in math and science with other students around the world. in the presidential race today mitt romney continues on the campaign trail with a town hall event in ohio. in pennsylvania yesterday romney accused president obama of supporting a quote government centered society. president obama meantime has meetings at the white house today before heading out on a two-day campaign swing in florida tomorrow. democrats and now some republicans too are continuing to call for romney to release more of his tax returns. today governor brown will sign the funding bill for the high speed rail project. earlier this month state

lawmakers approved $8 billion for construction of bullet trains that are supposed to run between the bay area and southern california. the whole project is estimated to cost $69 billion. the first stage is scheduled to break ground in the central valley early next year. sal is here with us this morning with a look at the traffic. coming in there weren't that many cars out. it was still dark. how is it going now? >> there was a crash on 24 westbound. westbound 24 near broadway. that is on the oakland side of the tunnel. they managed to move that to the shoulder in case you heard of it. that crash is now out of the lanes but it caused a little bit of congestion. also some flashing lights there again on 24 and oakland. you still might see it on the shoulder there. let's go to the east shore freeway and see the traffic here looks pretty good. you will see flashing lights up near golden gate fields racetrack eastbound. they are picking up road work. should be up there for a little while longer. it's not causing a major delay

on 80 westbound or eastbound for that matter. this is construction work. this is a look now at the bay bridge toll plaza. that traffic continues to move along very nicely. if we are look at the south bay a live picture from northbound 280 this traffic looks good getting up to highway 17. let's go to steve. >> thank you. a very good morning. some low clouds out there but nothing compared to yesterday. it maxed itself out. it did burn off and temperatures settled in. 60s and 70s. it was close temperature wise on the coast and bay. little bow continues to sit here and spin. it did not dig any further south. it's still ramping up that fog and low clouds. sea breeze has really been coming down. only west, southwest 14. most locations say calm. 48 sonoma county airport. if you have low clouds san jose. if you're under clear skies it's much, much cooler. north bay under a little cool down. the low will begin to finally

eject out. there is a little piece of energy coming around the backside. we will hold on it for one more day. that will allow temperatures to rebound. tropical clouds taking aim at southern california might clip east bay and south bay. temperatures though 60s, 70s, and now a couple low 80s. fog, sun, and warmer. cool to mild lows though. north cool, south more on the mild side. a little breezy at times. nothing compared to the last couple of times. temperatures coming up about 3- 5 degrees today. the higher clouds clipping again the south bay. maybe east bay on thursday. it looks like back to a warmer pa person temperature two more dead birds tested positive for the west nile virus. one of them was found on viking drive on pleasant hill. since april 6th -- since april six birds have tested positive for the virus.

county officials are asking people to check their property for standing water and report any sources that could be breeding ground. message relating to the penn state abuse scandal. the mysterious banner spotted above the school campus. >> rent prices are skyrocketing in the bay area. and the city where it's most expensive to live. >> good morning, northbound 101 san francisco looking good approaching the 80 split. we'll tell you more about the morning commute and the bay weather.

good morning. we still have low clouds around. but the sea breeze has trailed off a little bit. the fog will burn off sooner today and it will be a little warmer. mainly 70. a small plane sent a bold message to penn state university. the plane flew over the campus yesterday with a banner that read take the statue down or we will. it was a reference to an on

campus statue of former head football coach joe paterno. a report released last week said it helped cover up child sex abuse by jerry sandusky. a decision will be made within days. the future about penn state's football program will be made soon. it will respond to the ncaa demand for information about possible penalties. it all stems from the jerry sandusky child abuse scandal. the head of the ncaa says he has not ruled out the possibility of shutting down the famous football program. new this morning serious state run tv says the countries defense minister and deputy defense minister that is the brother-in-law of president assad were killed today. the capitol has seen four straight days of fighting between government troops and rebels. today's attacks struck the national security building during a meeting of cabinet

ministers. this comes as the u.n. security council is scheduled to vote today on a new resolution to end the 17 months of violence. the number of veterans applying for disability benefits continues to grow. the va processes one million claims a year. but va official plans to tell congressional committee the flow of claims has increased 48% during the last three years. the va wants to be able to process all claims in less than 125 days by the year 2015. santa rosa woman has been charged with murder in connection to a road rage crash that killed a 56-year-old man. heather an howell is being held without bail. howell crashed into a car on saturday while chasing after her exboyfriend on a motorcycle after an argument. the car howell hit flipped over and exploded killing the driver jesse garcia. >> it's very unfortunate and

she's very remorseful about that and very sad. >> garcia was a metal yard manager that had been married for 30 years. his daughter just graduated from college. howell will be back in court on friday where she is expected to have a bail hearing and enter a plea. a five-year-old boy is recovering after being hit by a car in cupertino. the accident happened in a residential area on vista court at 7:15 last night. the driver was going at a low rate of speed and the person did stop after the accident. the boy was rushed to the hospital. the extent of his injuries are unknown. a heads up for drivers in san mateo. pg&e crews begin pipeline savety work today that will effect traffic. delaware street between tenth and 16th avenues will be closed for the next four to six weeks. crews will be installing automated gas shut off valves under ground. they are making the safety

changes following the deadly pipeline disaster in san bruno almost two years ago sal was telling us about an accidental earlier. how are the roads looking now? >> they are looking better. the crash is gone and the traffic is getting better. let's start in contra costa county. the traffic is not too bad as you drive on the east shore freeway. it's a nice looking drive heading out to the mccarthur maze. as we move to the east bay hayward union city and fremont a little farther south you can see the traffic is doing very well. bay bridge toll plaza is still light at this hour. there is a little bit of road work east 80 between berkeley and albany. and this mornings commute the morning commute on the south bay freeway northbound 280, northbound 101 freeway in the santa clara valley are off to a good start. off to a good start steve? >> of course i am. you know i can't kick too high. we do have a another little low sitting up there.

it will not dig any farther south. if it did, i think it maxed itself out yesterday. still low clouds around. shower activity will continue well to the north. temperatures that were way below average yesterday will creep back up today. it's gradual. it's not rapid or anything. the sea breeze so far really starting to tail off a little bit because inland temps have been so cool. there is not a lot to support it anymore. but if you have clear skies it's on the cool side. santa rosa 48. if you have overcast or low clouds and fog it's mild to 60. there is a big difference. the low continues to sit here. it will eject out probably tomorrow. higher clouds remain of what was hurricane fabio heading into southern california, central california. some could clip south bay maybe the east bay. most should stay to the south. for us temperatures starting to rebound. upper 70s and low 80s. when you are out at stockton there is only about 74 degrees.

it will be a little warmer. sonoma 74. napa 74. fairfield now 79. pittsburg low 80s. 76 walnut creek. alameda 68. coast and bay are not that bad they are starting off on the mild side. temperatures from the south bay and even on the coast not too bad. that fog did breakthrough and the sun did hustle its -- muscle its way in. a few high clouds but a slight warmup on thursday and night and morning fog as we go into your weekend. temperatures inland will warm up. >> all right, thank you. people who were forced to evacuate because of the robbers fire will return to their homes later this morning. cooler weather has allowed firefighters to make progress on the placer county fire. full containment could come as soon as saturday. the fire burned 2600 acres and destroyed one home.

at one point 170 other homes were threatened. bay area apartment rental costs are at their highest levels ever. that is according to a new study by the rental information service real facts. palo alto is the most expensive place to live. san francisco came in second with almost $2734. and redwood city is the third most expensive with just over $2100. experts attribute the cost increases to the improving job market and to the still recovering housing market. a new state bill to help find the victims of a speed freak killers. but why it requires the release of a convicted killer from death row. >> another bogus bomb threat. and tens of thousands of people were at risk.

convicted killer wesley shermantine will leave death row to help investigators locate the remains of murder victims. governor jerry brown signed a release. they expect they killed dozens of people in the '80s and '90s. police found some remains after shermantine drew a burial site. a jury has convicted hans reiser to pay $60 million to

his two children. the jurors deliberated just a few hours before reaching their decision in a wrongful death lawsuit yesterday. the $60 million reward is for the emotional damage the children suffered after the murder of their mother nina in 2006. the attorney for the reiser children was only asking for $25 million. >> we wanted to make darn sure that the children were well taken care of, that they would have the psychological help that they needed for the rest of their life. >> reiser is a former computer software developer and unclear whether he has any money let alone that $60 million. a controversial stop and frisk policy is being debated in san francisco. the policy already adopted in philadelphia and new york allows police officers to stop and search anyone they consider to be suspicious.

opponents say stop and frisk discriminates against minorities. >> our civil rights deserve to be protected and not abandoned for an excuse of decreasing violence. >> mayor ed lee says he will not allow the policy to target certain people. he says he's looking for a bold solution to slow the cities homicide rate which which is up 33% as of last year. tomorrow he will be in philadelphia to meet with city leaders. yesterday they filed a request for a court order that would prevent police from checking the papers of police they consider suspicious. the group says the show me your papers provision will lead to racial profiling. they hope to block the provision before it takes effect which could happen in the next few days. sal is over here looking at the traffic out there. last time you showed us it wasn't too bad. >> we are off to a decent start there jana as you are looking

at the bay area commute. let's go outside and take a look at what we have with interstate 880 north and southbound that traffic continues to move along very well. no major problems passing the coliseum. bay bridge toll plaza the same thing goes. and there are no construction delays along this stretch. if you are driving let's say from hayward to fremont maybe to san jose southbound 880 is off to a nice start. 4:54 let's go to steve. >> sal. >> yeses. >> berry zito. >> i know; right? >> we do have this low sitting to the north temperature it's been controlling our weather for the next couple of days. for 60s very low 70s the coast actually warmed up the fog there were thin spots broke through. temperatures mid 60s. few upper 60s. i think we see a repeat performance. yesterday was let's call it

what it was, it was light rain even though technically weather talk it was drizzle. not as windy today. 10-20 miles an hour. mostly sunny. there is still plenty of low clouds and fog out there. 40s for some. 60s for others. 53 concord. had a little chill in the morning air though. the low looks like it will max itself out. remains of a hurricane will stay in southern and central california. 60s and 70s and a couple low 80s will come back. cool to mild lows. 80 antioch. 80 morgan hill. 75 san jose. 70 oakland. 67 san francisco. redwood city at 74. night and morning fog maybe a few high clouds thursday. >> thanks, steve. police in detroit are investigating a bomb threat at a major league baseball game. someone called 911 last night and said there was a bomb at the ballpark where the detroit

tigers were playing the los angeles angels. they made no announcement and did not call for an evacuation while they searched the stadium. nothing was found president threat follows two similar hoaxes on monday and last week that shut down a bridge and tunnel connecting detroit and canada. it was a close call on a road in a mountain winery. how a driver escaped this mess without a sickle scratch on their car. >> a crucial day in the ethics case against suspended sheriff ross mirkarimi. the close relative that is expected to take the witness stand today.

we are live at city hall where the misconduct trial against san francisco sheriff resumes today. we'll tell you who is expected to take the stand. >> a massive fallen tree creates a close call for this car. >> we'll tell you how uc students are planning to protest the proposed fee increase. >> well after yesterday's very, very cool july day and lots of drizzle will temperatures start to rebound today or will we keep them on the cool side. it's all ahead on the ktvu